Gardenary's Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis Brings European Flair to Your Garden

I've been in love with this trellis since I first laid eyes on it. It's perfect for adding a touch of French style or perhaps even a cottage vibe to a kitchen garden with its elegant little finial and graceful curves down the side. The curves actually me think of the double staircase da Vinci designed for the Château de Chambord in France (or if you're more science minded, perhaps a double helix).

Not only do the curves add more design flair, from a practical standpoint, they also add more structures for vining plants to climb. Instead of stringing twine around the side of an obelisk trellis, you can use these curves to train your plants up. Honestly, though, even when it's not covered in beautiful vines, this trellis is a great structural piece in your garden.

If you're considering purchasing our Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis, keep reading to find more information about the trellis material, dimensions, and assembly directions.

Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis Material

Metal provides the sturdiest structural support for your climbing plants in the garden. It's also the most durable option of the garden trellis materials available.

The Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis is made of solid powder-coated black steel. The powder coating increases the steel's weather resistance, so you can feel sure this trellis will last for years to come in your garden space.

Dimensions of the Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis

This obelisk comes in two different sizes. The medium is 75" tall and 13" in diameter. I love using trellises that are at least 12" in diameter in the kitchen garden. That gives you enough circumference to plant at least four vining plants around the exterior and still give each of those plants plenty of space to grow to its full potential. (I don't recommend planting in the center of this trellis because it's a waste of all that great growing space. Plus, the plant will be harder to tend and harvest.)

I also love that the medium is at least 6' tall to handle the growth potential for tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans, and more during a long warm season.

The large obelisk is even taller at 84" and has a diameter of 14.5". This height makes this trellis ideal for adding structure to an in-ground landscaping bed, like in the picture below.

Notes on the Border Tuteur Trellis

This trellis can ship across the continental US and arrives in a single flat box. Even though it's not heavy or particularly difficult to assemble, I recommend grabbing a partner to help you hold the legs in place while you attach the rings and curves. This will help you avoid scratching the metal while you're making adjustments. So promise your spouse, your kid, your neighbor, or a friend that you'll pay them in future cucumbers or something.

It takes me about 20 minutes to assemble this trellis by myself but only about 10 minutes with a partner.

Assembling the Border Tuteur Trellis is pretty easy with two people, but here are a couple tips to make the process go smoothly:

• When you add the four lower legs in Step Two, make sure the fastening tabs all face the same way as the tabs in the upper frame.
• In Step Three, the four rings go on the outside of the main assembly, not on the inside.
• The outside swirls go on last. Besides being decorative, they firmly lock the top half of the trellis to the lower half. When you're done assembling your trellis, it should look and feel as solid as if it's been welded together.
• Assemble the trellis on its side on a soft, even surface to avoid scratching the finish. I typically assemble trellises on the grass right next to my kitchen garden. If you're assembling indoors, it's a good idea to put a towel or something down to protect wood or tile flooring.

Step One to Assemble the Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis

Unpack the box; unwrap each piece of the trellis and lay them out on a clean, flat surface. Check that all items from the component list have been included.

Your Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis kit should come with the following parts:

• 1 finial
• 2 main frames (upper)
• 4 main frames (lower)
• 4 rings
• 4 side curves
• 16 nuts and bolts
• wrench

Note that the trellis kit comes with a wrench for tightening the nuts onto the bolts, so you won't need any additional tools to assemble.

Step Two to Assemble the Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis

We'll start by assembling the very top of the trellis. Place the upper main frame pieces together as shown, with the thread from the lower frame passing through the hole in the second frame. Rotate the finial down onto the thread until it's finger tight. Wait to tighten the finial fully until you're sure the four legs are positioned correctly.

Now let's give the trellis its full height. Fit the lower main frame rods into the upper main frame sockets as shown in Figure 2. Make absolutely sure that all welded tabs with holes on the lower rods are pointing in the same direction as the tabs with holes in the upper assembly. This is essential for correct ring assembly in Step Three.

Step Three to Assemble the Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis

Stand the trellis upright with the help of your buddy. From above, place all four rings over the outside of the main frame and lower the rings to the ground.

Raise the first ring up to the topmost welded tabs and align the four holes in the ring with the four holes in the tabs. For now, you're going to secure the ring using only two nuts and bolts directly opposite each other. (The other two holes in the ring will remain empty until Step Four, when it's time to attach the curves.)

Pass a bolt through the ring and hole in the bracket from the outside. Put a nut onto the bolt from the inside and finger tighten. Repeat for the other hole.

Again, don't fully tighten any of the nuts just yet. You might need to adjust as you add more rings and then the curves.

Repeat for the remaining three rings, making sure that you line up the nuts and bolts for each ring.

The obelisk is now taking shape. You're almost to the home stretch, guys!

Step Four to Assemble the Border Tuteur Obelisk Trellis

Grab one of the side curved strips. Starting from an empty hole in the top ring, place a bolt through one end of the curved strip, then though the ring and bracket. Fasten with a nut on the inside. Repeat for the lower end of the same curved strip, securing it onto the lower ring. Then add the other curved strip for the top assembly.

When you attach the two curved strips for the lower assembly, make sure they line up with the upper strips to give the appearance of a continuous curve from top to bottom. Tighten all the nuts and bolts with the wrench starting from the top and working your way down.

Celebrate!

Ta-da! Your Border Tuteur Trellis is now fully assembled and ready to be pushed into the ground or soil of a raised garden bed!

Make sure you push the trellis about 6 inches deep to secure it.

Here's What You Can Grow on the Border Tuteur Trellis

I recently installed several of these in a wonderful new kitchen garden at Juniper Green. Their large obelisks will support vining perennials like blackberries and raspberries. Really, you could grow any vining-type plant on your trellis without having to worry about the plant running out of space. That includes indeterminate tomatoes, peas, pole beans, cucumbers, passion vine, nasturtium, coral vine, and small gourds.

Like I said, this trellis features lots of great spots for little tendrils to grab onto so that your plants will feel nice and supported.

Hope You Enjoy Your Border Tuteur Trellis

If this trellis looks even half as good in your garden space as it does at Juniper Green, then I think you'll be very happy.

If you have any questions about the trellis, feel free to reach out to us at shop@gardenary.com.